New fermenter means brewery can make lager on site

Tongham's Hogs Back Brewery has invested £30,000 in the 2.5-tonne vat

Hogs Back Brewery staff show off their new fermenting vat. Picture by Jake Darling

The coming of age of Tongham's relatively young Hogs Back Brewery has taken a major step forward with the installation of a huge new lager fermenter.

The 2.5 tonne conical vessel, which will hold more than 23,000 pints of beer when full, was hoisted by crane through the brewery roof last Thursday (June 26), giving the 22-year-old business the ability to fully brew lager on site for the first time.

Since they launched the new Hogstar brew last September, staff have had to finish conditioning the beer at the Hepworth brewery in Horsham, which limited the amount produced and piled on extra costs.

Made by a specialist company in Germany, the new £30,000 fermenter is set to be the first of eight that will allow the expanding craft brewery to barge its way into the lager market.

Chairman and owner Rupert Thompson said: “The global lager brands are good beers, but there is a growing number of more affluent, discerning lager drinkers who are looking for a bit more character and flavour, not to mention something made in England.”

Under Mr Thompson’s ownership, which began two-and-a-half years ago, the business is growing at 33% a year, in terms of volume of beer produced, mainly driven by demand for its flagship TEA (Traditional English Ale) bitter.

Despite the growth in sales, these are financially lean times at the Tongham business, as all profits, plus an extra £500,000, have been channelled back into the business in a bid to take on the bigger brewers.

“April was the first month since I took over where we broke back into profit,” said Mr Thompson. “I hope we will be making a reasonable profit by next year.”

The additional fermenters are due to arrive over the next few months, meanwhile Mr Thompson is looking to hire extra staff for the shop and marketing department, to complement the 24 full-time staff currently employed.

“We have high hopes for Hogstar,” said the chairman. “Ideally we will produce half the volume we currently make in TEA. Although some of the larger breweries are losing market share to businesses like us, I think between us, we’re growing the market slightly.”

Mr Thompson’s career started at the Bass Brewery in 1980, and has since seen him undertake brand managership of Carling lager, and the development of Moorlands Old Speckled Hen and its sale to Greene King.

Last month, the Hogs Back Brewery made local history by becoming the first in West Surrey to plant a new hop garden for more than 50 years.

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